


Battle Scars

by jackscrutchie



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jack takes much better care of Crutchie, Jealousy, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:31:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackscrutchie/pseuds/jackscrutchie
Summary: Jack comes home to the penthouse to find a roughed up Crutchie.





	Battle Scars

There had been quite a few times Jack could remember when he’d carried Crutchie home, piggyback. Once when they were a lot younger, Crutchie had slipped and fell. He cried and cried and cried until Jack found him and helped him walk home. Jack had helped him clean up his bloodied knees and hands and kissed the bandages. Another time, his leg was hurting him so badly, he couldn’t move. Without any hint of hesitation, Jack scooped him into his arms and brought him back to the lodging house.

Crutchie also had this bad habit of standing up to people two and three times his size. He didn’t let his bad leg hold him back. If he needed to hold his ground to defend himself or one of the other boys, he’d do it. It didn’t matter if he got himself beat up or not. On more than one occasion, Jack had stumbled upon him in a scuffle with a much bigger boy. Usually he’d grab the bigger kid and throw him off, kicking him in the rear before telling him to get lost – But a few times, he’d be prying Crutchie off. In both instances, Jack always ended up fussing over him. Taking care of him, carrying him home, cleaning him up and wrapping up scrapes and cuts. 

Crutchie was a tough kid, but he was far from invincible. One of Jack’s biggest fears was finding him too late, but he tried not to think about that. Not only was he small, he succumbed to illness a little easier than others. Jack couldn’t help but worry about him. Crutchie was… Something else.

It’d been a long day with a terrible headline and Jack couldn’t wait to get back to the penthouse. If he were lucky Crutchie would already be there, ready to welcome him home with that big, beautiful and contagious smile of his. Jack was already smiling just thinking about it. He walked faster, a spring in his step. Maybe he’d take him out for a slice of cake tonight. He could use a little bit of his savings to spoil him a little.

Jack rounded the corner and sprinted the rest of the way, almost jumping onto the fire escape. “Hey, Crutchie!” He called up in a sweet sing song voice. “How’s that sweet tooth of yours?” He made it to the top, and looked to where Crutchie usually sat. “I want to –” He voice caught, his heart stopped.

Crutchie was there, but his eye was swollen – Black and blue spread up his cheekbone. His lip was split and there was dried blood on his chin. He was picking at a cut on his elbow, a thin line of crimson trickling down his skin. There were drops of red on his shirt. One of his hands had a piece of ripped fabric wrapped around it. His pant leg was pulled up, a matching scrap of fabric tied around his knee. “What the hell happened?!”

“Oh, hey Jack.” Crutchie smiled then licked away the fresh blood from the cut on his lip. “It’s nothin’ really.” He shrugged, scratching at his head.

No this wasn’t happening. How could he have not known about this? “It ain’t nothin’!” He reached Crutchie in four long strides, dropping to one knee next to him. “What happened?” Jack was always the one that took care of him – How could he not be this time? Not only was Crutchie hurt, but someone else had done his job. 

“I just got into in with some guy. Nothing serious, I swear!” Crutchie held up his hands, trying to calm Jack down. “He ran off with his tail between his legs after Spot showed up.”

Spot. He felt his face twist into a scowl but quickly shook it off. Of course it was that bastard. “Spot, huh?”

“Yeah. He helped me get back here, too.” He subconsciously rubbed at his bad leg. The one bandaged. “He left not that long ago… I’m surprised you didn’t see him on your way up.”

“Yeah? Well – He did a terrible job wrappin’ you up.” He grabbed Crutchie’s arm to examine the cut on his elbow. “Didn’t even finish.” He reached back to pull a handkerchief from his pocket. Before he knew it was Spot, he figured Crutchie had tried to take care of himself. But knowing that Spot had done it made so much more sense to him. Only he could do such a shoddy job. He wiped at the small bit of blood on his elbow, cleaning it all away. 

“Hey, he helped! It ain’t like I was expecting it or anythin’.” Crutchie tilted his head and smiled. “Don’t be mean.”

“I ain’t bein’ mean – Just tellin’ the truth.” Jack gently removed the fabric covering his hand. It was covered in scrapes. He must have used this hand to break his fall. He brought his hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss into his palm. Oh shi – Jack cleared his throat, a blush building on his cheeks. The hell did he do that for? “You uh – Sure you’re okay?” 

Crutchie was lost in his own mind, his eyes focused on their hands – A bit dazed. His freckled cheeks flushed pink. “What?”

“You okay?” He kept his eyes on his work, re - wrapping the fabric around his hand much nicer, like a true professional. He scoffed inwardly at Spot. He obviously had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He bet Spot could hardly take care of himself. 

“Oh… Yeah. I’m fine. I told you I was…” Crutchie broke his gaze away from their hands. “Don’t worry so much.”

“You know I can’t help it.” Jack smiled, reaching back to rub at the back of his neck. “You’re…” He paused. Crutchie was so special to him – He couldn’t imagine a life without him in it. “You’re important to me.” 

Crutchie smiled, dipping his head down. “You… You’re important to me too, Jack.” 

Damn he was cute. Jack groaned, tilting his head back towards the sky. “Listen, Crutchie…”

“Jack?”

He couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to say something – Do something. “You –” He stopped, thinking. “I just –” Another pause. How could he be so bad at this? He was usually so smooth and romantic – Wait. He sighed. “I want to be the one to take care of you next time. And any time after that. Spot, he – He’s terrible at this.” He gestured to the other bandage. It was already falling off. “You deserve better.”

The tops of Crutchie’s ears were red, and his heart was beating almost out of his chest. “Sure…” Was all he could manage.

Jack reached out, gently pushing Crutchie’s sandy hair behind his ear and smiled. “Besides, I can kiss all of those better.”

**Author's Note:**

> LET ME EXPLAIN. I have this...... Thing I'm weak for. And it's Spot having a thing for Crutchie. Him and Jack get into it a lot because of it. Crutchie is blissfully ignorant to the whole situation. But yeah, Jack and Spot bicker over who can win Crutchie's heart and hilarity ensure but then it's fine because Spot falls in love with Race let's be honest. ANYWAY SORRY. I'll write is someday if someone is interested but..... Yeah.


End file.
